These guys worshiped heavy metal instead of
Jesus Christ, thus the name Metal Church. Some how we have
a feeling that this might not quite be enough to get into
heaven. Metal Church was a thrash metal band that was formed in San Francisco by guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof back in 1980 (the band moved to Washington State
shortly thereafter). The band signed with Elektra records and
their
self-titled release
hit the shelves via Shrapnel Records in 1984. Some of you
may remember the Deep Purple cover song "Highway Star". Word
has it that it was recommended to Elektra Records that they sign Metal
Church by members of Metallica.

Their 1986 release,
The Dark,
found the band touring with Metallica. Some of you
may remember the song "When the Children Pray" from this
album, and the accompanying MTV music video. After
this release, founder Vanderhoof quit performing with
the band, but did continue helping them compose new
tunes. After several member changes, including
lead singer, Metal Church released Blessing in Disguise
in 1989, an album that received much acclaim.

By 1993, Metal Church
had disbanded. By 1998, original members,
including Vanderhoof, had reprised their old roles and
the band was back in the studio. After several
more releases and band line up changes, Metal Church
disbanded again in 2009 after a stint at Rocklahoma.
At the time of this writing, the Metal Church
Discography was as follows:

1981: Red Skies (Demo)

1982: Hit Man (Demo)

1982: Four Hymns (Demo)

1984: Metal Church

1986: The Dark

1989: Blessing in Disguise

1991: The Human Factor

1993: Hanging in the Balance

1999: Masterpeace

2004: The Weight of the World

2008: The Present Wasteland

This page is dedicated to my old buddy,
Brad Cherry, who tried to get me to attend a Metal Church concert at the
Cotillion Ballroom way back in 1986. Sorry, bro, they were just too loud!